"The Pilgrim's Regress" by C.S. Lewis

A conversion story written in the form of an allegory. It's based on his own life and it is an interesting "blend" of fiction and non-fiction in that the story is a fiction that comes from a testimony. In my old JP CG, we spent an hour with each person's whole life story before and after they came to know the Lord. It would have been fascinating to have told those stories in a fictional form.

Amy Carmichael's "Gold Cord"

The story of Amy Carmichael's mission to India in her own words. Taking place in the early half of the twentieth century this book was recommended to missions students at Covenant Seminary by Jerram Barrs of the Francis Schaeffer Institute. Amy is an example to us from Church History of one of the most "unblemished" and simplest examples of a life wholly dedicated to Christ. She gave of herself to a people that could never possibly repay her and the whole mission was one in which all glory went to God. Her life shows us what the spirit of Mary's "fiat" must have been like in the life of an individual Believer.

Citylife Boston BookClub Blog: April 2008: Life Together

Citylife Boston BookClub Blog: April 2008: Life Together

April 2008: Life Together

Dietrich Bonhoeffer's early 20th century call to Christian community speaks volumes to us in the context of being written in a hostile environment. How much more so should we in 21st century North America respond to the Gospel and each other in the ways of kindness and expression of Gospel community. Do we have anything to say with our lives in an expression of love to each other that transcends mere sentimentality? Does it mean anything to count a person a spiritual brother or sister in Christ? Have we been transformed at all by the Gospel or are we merely giving lip service to it, and to Jesus? Worse yet, are we simply using Christ to assuage our earthly guilt with no real change in our lives in comparison to the lives of others without faith in Him?

Read on, if you wish to challenge yourself and others around you in a holy and healthy way.

Title for March 2008: Shantung Compound by Langdon Gilkey

How do people of faith and non-faith react to the struggles of life and death in a closed, hostile environment where no one has a perceived advantage? What difference does faith make in one's daily life when pitted against others with and those without faith? What can we learn from this about ourselves and about community? Where is the Gospel in all this?

February 2008: INSIDE OUT by Dr. Larry Crabb

The twin sins of self-protection and demangdingness are signs of the idols of control and comfort respectively. Most of us struggle with a little of both, some far more of one than the other. Were you able to discern what the template of your heart was? Were you able to dig down deep by the help of the Holy Spirit and the author's work and Scripture to begin to approach repentance? What were your initial reactions to the work? Did it scare you to look inside?